More
on Early History Of

Buffalo
Trail Scout Ranch

This article was
in the San Angelo Standard-Times - Sunday November 2, 1947 written by Gilbert
Webb.

BUFFALO TRAIL SCOUT RANCH

One of the most scenic spots
in the entire Southwest -Aguja Canyon - has just been acquired by the Boy
Scouts of Buffalo Trail Council, and through that action, more than 16,000
boys between the ages of 12 and 16 years will inherit a magnificent example
of wind and water erosion's sample of outdoor grandeur.

Nestled deep in the heart
of the Davis Mountains, 26 miles southwest of Balmorhea, the property amounts
to 6,000 acres of lands that have always been thickly populated with almost
every type of wild game known to this part of Texas. It is completely walled
in from the outside world that scarcely knows of its existence and overbearing
cliffs rise as much as 2,000 feet above the floor of the canyon where deer,
bear, squirrel and scores of small fur-bearing animals feed and play.

Wild cherry, wild grape,
ash, pine, oak, birch, pinon, juniper and many other native trees and vines
turn the rough, rugged land into another Owen Stanley Range. Sly little
springs burst forth from under the towering gorge that offer shelter to
soaring Eagles and feed the main stream that dashes down Little Aguja Canyon,
there bass and trout dart when man appears. It is a heaven on earth for
the outdoors boy.

This almost inaccessible
country is made up of a main canyon and scores of smaller ones that lead
off into deep, dark, recesses of mysteriously silent forests where Texas
pine grown as much as six feet in circumference. Here and there, as one
pushes his way upstream, lies the remains of long-forgotten little log
or stone cabins that offered shelter to some of the earlier invaders of
the canyon. There is a single pack trail leading into the heart of the
country that will be developed for the boys of the Council.

Owner J. B. Odell 1915-1941

One echoing canyon, without
a name, has not been invaded within the past 67 years by white man, according
to J. B. Odell, local cattleman who became the canyon's first owner in
1915 and sold it in 1941 to retire. Odell, now 73 years old and a native
of the mountains since 1906, quotes a Bo McCutcheon who started visiting
the remote-little canyon back in 1880 in denying that white man ever visited
that part of the forest.

Land of Black Bears

From 1915 until he sold the
ranchlands, J. B. Odell and his family of Mrs. Odell and two children made
their home at the mouth of the canyon until 1941. From their little homestead
of eight sections of land, almost a mile above sea level, they watched
civilization spread out into this part of Texas but not touch their little
canyon. During the quarter of a century he lived in the canyon and fought
wild animals, Odell estimates he killed'at least 100 black bears and there
were as many when he left as there were at the turn of the century.

Sometime in 1909, he caught
a 633 pound black bear in a steel trap up in the canyon. However, since
that date he says he has caught at least two others which outweighed this
one and and according to him there are bears up in those mountains still
bigger. During the 41 years he has been working stock in the Davis Mountains,
Odell said stockmen had carried on a constant warfare with bears and without
great success.

For a figure, he estimated
that ranchmen receiving as much as a 75 per cent calf crop would actually
harvest about 20 per cent of that amount if they did not constantly trap
bears and chase them with dogs. He has killed as many as a dozen big blacks
in a single year.

About the same story goes
for panthers and wildcats. He quickly cleared up the theory that these
cats would attack a man. "I don't know of a single instance when one of
these cats jumped on a man," Odell said. He described them as cowardly
stock thieves that had ruined several good stockmen out in the Davis Mountains.

First Owner

If anybody knows, it should
be J. B. Odell. He bought that canyon from the State of Texas for $1.55
to $3.55 per acre to become its first owner. He operated there after having
build a home, raised his children and retired here six years ago.

There is very little written
record of the goings and comings of those who lived in or near the canyon.
The whole story, gleaned from the memory of men like Odell, reflects primitive
rural beauty coupled with tragedy and death. Skeletons of men, missing
for years, have been found by stockmen deep in the remote corners of the
land of pines. Stories of strange happenings among the Mexican laborers
who came to those remote mountains about the turn of the century would
fill several volumes.

Strange Stories

Odell tells a story of two
Mexicans working up in the mountains. One was married and the other possesses
a horse and saddle. The married one traded his wife and small child to
the other for the horse and saddle and rode off into Old Mexico. Several
years later the remaining pair was rumored to be still living farther up
in the valley. There are others, and just as strange.

With the coming of the Boy
Scouts of Buffalo Trail Council will come more information about the land
that has almost never heard the crack of a gun in modern times. The executive
council of "Trail," has already started tentative plans for the creation
Of a lake, a road into the camp grounds, some sort of buildings for shelter
and a score of other improvements for the comfort of the boys who will
be coming out here for a week each summer.

The Scouts have been pledged
to pay approximately $75,000 to Hunter Strain of San Angelo for the wonderland.
When it is all figured up, it will amount to less than $5. per eligible
boy in the counties making up the council. P. V. Thorson, Scout Executive
for the "Trail," estimates that every year there will be 16,000 boys eligible
to be members of some Boy Scout Troop and have a perfect right to use the
canyon campsite.

Rex Palmer, Scout executive
of Pecos and the man who has seen more of the canyon than anyone else,
comes out of the area with a story of Indian paintings on the side of a
towering cliff that is well worth the participation of the boys who will
make their first official pilgrimage into the virgin territory during the
summer of 1948.

This story was written
by the Buffalo Trail Council as a news release.

BOY SCOUTS OFFER HIGH
AVENTURE WILDERNESS CAMPING

Nestled deep in the heart
of the Davis Mountains, 26 miles southwest of Balmorhea, is the 6,000 acre
Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch Camp. The camp has been populated with almost
every type of wild game known to this part of Texas. It is completely
walled-in from the outside world that scarcely knows of its existence;
overbearing cliffs raise as much as 2,000 feet above the floor of the canyon,
where deer, bear, squirrel and scores of other wildlife feed and play.

Gerald Petty, Assistant Scout
Executive, who serves as Camp Director says, "This is where thousands of
Scouts and leaders journey each summer for an adventure of a lifetime."
The Scout Camp is open the year 'round for Scouts and their leaders. During
the summer months the Scouts are involved in special programs that are
available to them.

Scouts take overnight camping
trips and day hikes to Needle Rock, Blue Hole, The Notch, Hidden Valley,
Rustlers Flat, Bear Mountain, Million Dollar Canyon, and Goat Cave. Hiking
the many miles of trails at the ranch brings each Scout closer to God's
Great Outdoors and makes them more physically fit.

In addition the Camp is used
for training of volunteer leaders, boy leaders, special camps for just
the boy and his mother, also, father and son activities.

For additional information
you can contact the Council Service Center, 1101 W. Wall, Midland, Texas
79701 or call 684-7171

This story was
written on the 38th year of the Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch

LOOKING BACK

The Buffalo Trail Council
completed its 38th year of successful camping this past summer. During
these years thousands of boys have had an opportunity to grow and appreciate
the great outdoors.

When we look back at the
beginning of the Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch there were many men, who were
members of the Executive Board who had a vision of what the 6,000 acres
in the Davis Mountains could mean to the youth in west Texas.

One of those men was the
late George Abell. Mr. Abell was so interested that he put up $25,000.00
of this own money to assure the purchase of the Ranch for the Boy Scouts.

The two Buffaloes that stand
at the entrance of the camp was also a contribution from Mr. & Mrs.
Abell. They designed the entrance and had them made by a local blacksmith.

A few years later it became
apparent to Mr. Abell and other Scouters that the Council needed to develop
a program to help stabilize the financial condition of the Council. Mr.
Abell was named Chairman of the committee to develop a trust instrument
that would provide a way for individuals to make contributions to the Trust
and have a permanent fund to help in the operations of the Council. When
the Trust Fund instrument was completed he made the first contribution
of $25,000.00

While Mr. Abell was on the
Executive Board and the Chairman of the Trust Fund Committee of the Buffalo
Trail Council, Mrs. Abell was a Den Mother.

The Executive Board, Scouts
and volunteers appreciate Mrs. Abell's support which has helped to teach
Scouts the much needed values of faith in God, and love of Country, honesty,
integrity, and loyalty.

Our thanks to David O'Neill
and John Dee Johnson for furnishing us the information for this page.